


It Begins with a Letter

by Followyourwaytodawn



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, Introspection, Letters, Light Angst, M/M, Sappy, recollect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25682572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Followyourwaytodawn/pseuds/Followyourwaytodawn
Summary: Riku keeps letters for Sora detailing the events that occur after he dissappeared. It's not his fault if the letters get a little sappy.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 62
Collections: Re⊕Collect: A Soriku Fic Collection





	It Begins with a Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Aaa! I'm so excited to finally post this! This was my very first zine fic and it was so so much fun!! If you bought a copy, thanks so so much for supporting our works! If this is your first read, don't forget to check out the other authors' works too!!

_Dear Sora,_

_It’s been about a week since you..._

Riku paused in his writing. This was going to be harder than he expected. Dropping his pen to the journal, he scrubbed a hand down his face. That tightness settled in his chest again, and as usual, it felt like his heart was made of stone.

_It has been about a week since you disappeared. I thought maybe this time I could keep up with what’s happening for you, since last time I couldn’t. Just please don’t be gone as long._

_Everyone in Radiant Garden is trying to find clues. I’m pretty sure Ienzo sleeps at the lab sometimes._

_Aqua, Terra, and Ventus left a few days ago. Somehow, they’re braving the Realm of Darkness again. Aqua said that you were more important than giving into any kind of fear. She’s right, but I still hope their journey is uneventful. They deserve some kind of peace..._

He lifted his pen to write the next line, but he hesitated. Would Sora really want to know what happened between him and Kairi? The rift, the unbreachable pass. Riku had not spoken much to her in that week. They were both grieving, sure, but were in no state to help each other.

That was part of the reason Riku started writing these letters in the first place. She’d recommended it, said it had helped her a while back.

_Kairi is doing alright. She’s sad, feels like this is her fault. We’ve all told her that it was your choice. You would have done it for anyone. It’s just part of your charm, you selfless numbskull. Be a little selfish for once._

* * *

_Dear Sora,_

_It’s been a long month and we’re still no closer to finding you._

_Ienzo thought he’d made some progress, but it was just a memory bank from your first time sleeping. Funny how long data can stick around, huh?_

_The Land of Departure is so beautiful. I’d love to show you all of it when you get back. I’ve been spending some time there to watch over it as Aqua is away. Something about a Keyblade Master’s duty._

_I haven’t been able to return home yet. It wouldn’t be right without you. So I’ve been splitting time between Yen Sid’s tower and Radiant Garden. There’s always something going on._

_Lea has been put back into training. I think something really got to him during the battle. He begged Merlin to train him again. Kairi joins him sometimes. Most days she just seems kinda out of it._

_I can’t blame her. We both miss you._

* * *

_Hey Sora,_

_It has been three months. That’s too long. Don’t you know what a stir you’re causing? Always starting some kinda ruckus, aren’t you?_

_When he’s back on respite, I’ve been trying to convince Terra to show me how to get keyblade armor. I know you would want some of your own._

Riku smiled, thinking about how excited and overzealous Sora would get practicing with it on for the first time. He would probably forget the added weight affected his range of motion, sending him toppling.

It helped ease his mind to think about Sora and future. _When_ Riku got him back, not _if_ , they would do tons of things. Maybe they’d finally get to see some worlds together not on missions. Sometimes, he caught himself falling into a daydream. He and Sora chasing through the forest like little kids, joining in the festivals hosted in Disney Town, seeing Radiant Garden back to its former glory and relearning its secrets, returning home together. Stronger and closer than ever. Knowing those sandy beaches and awful heat waves weren’t a trap anymore, that beyond the stars other worlds could wait for what he had at home... Sora.

Shaking his head, he realized he’d been caught up again and returned to writing.

_He says we need a few more years of formal training before we can have it. Honestly, I think we’ve earned it, what with saving the worlds a couple times over._

_As soon as you get back, we’ll pester him together, alright?_

* * *

_Kairi volunteered to sleep. She’s convinced her heart has some clues about where you are. I told her she didn’t have to do it, but... I think she’s doing it out of some guilt. Finding a way to escape that, too. It’s not the healthiest form of coping, but who am I to say that?_

Riku leaned back in his desk chair, a bitter laugh on his lips. Dark bags had taken up a semi-permanent residence under his eyes, results from sleepless nights he spent wishing and worrying. Yuffie had threatened to make Merlin cast Sleep on him three times last week.

Even when he did sleep, he searched for Sora in his dreams. In a strange-looking cityscape, lost and confused, he searched. The eyes he felt on his back at all points of the dream tinged it with paranoia, forcing it to become a foreboding nightmare most of the time.

But sometimes, he got a small reprieve. The dreams would take him directly to Sora, standing atop a building overlooking the whole city. Riku would reach out, lay a hand on his shoulder, and Sora’s blinding smile made all that wait worth it. He woke up aching to see that smile again, but real this time.

_I don’t think anyone could have convinced her otherwise. But it’s still difficult. After having to see you go through that, I never really wanted or expected to see it happen to someone else._

_We’ll find you soon, I promise. Then no more of this forced sleep business, okay?_

* * *

_Dear Sora,_

_Five months now—_

“It’s funny to find you up here; you never join us for ice cream.”

Riku startled from where he was writing, snapping the journal closed and eyes zipping up to who had interrupted him. Lea gave him a humored, lopsided smirk from the other side of the landing.

“Yeah, sorry, I just... I guess I wanted to see what it was all about. Take a break,” Riku responded quietly, setting his notebook aside in hopes Lea wouldn’t question it.

But he knew he wasn’t that lucky.

“Whatcha got there?” Lea motioned loosely towards the journal as he took a seat on the ledge. He stayed a respectful distance from Riku. Somehow everyone now knew how uncomfortable he was being too close to anyone, but—

“Letters. To Sora. So he can catch up easier when he gets back.” He gripped the spine tighter as if it were trying to fly away. He’d become protective of the book after Cid had tried to snatch it from him just to see what it was.

“Ohh, so you’re doing those too. But I thought you weren’t supposed to send ‘em?”

Riku shrugged. He didn’t know what to do with them at all, actually. There wasn’t a physical place to send them right now. And he wasn’t sure when Sora would return. That uncertainty itself unnerved Riku. What if Sora never came back? What if he never got to give them to him? What if he never—

“I was gonna enjoy this myself, but you look like you need it more.” Lea extended a hand, holding out an ice cream bar.

Riku sighed, taking it from him with a small “thanks”. At first, he had thought sea salt was a gross flavor, but it was growing on him. It reminded him of the salty air of Destiny Islands. Maybe the weird aftertaste was homesickness.

“When I was younger, I used to write notes to my crush and burn them so they’d never be found. Makes sense if you’re doing that, seeing how much you love him.”

Riku about choked on the ice cream. “Ho-how much I _**what**_?!” He coughed through his words.

Lea rolled his eyes, leaning back and supporting himself with his hands. “C’mon, kid, I can see it a mile away. You guys have been together since childhood, right? Playing some kinda cat ‘n mouse with each other’s hearts? Been there. It’s hard, yeah, but it gets easier when you finally admit it to yourself. Then pluck up the courage to tell him.”

Riku cleared his throat. “Ah. I see.” Did he really love Sora? They’d been stuck together so long, it was almost expected for their lives to be so entwined, but... He paused a moment, considering what Lea had said in full. “So... you and Isa?”

“What about us?” Lea asked with a raised eyebrow.

Riku shook his head, looking away. “I just thought... N-never mind, it’s none of my business.”

Lea snorted, “Ha, you’re right about that.”

* * *

_Sora. Sorry it’s been a while; the last two months were so busy. I’ve been checking out the last few worlds you went to for any clues. Arendelle is pretty nice. I don’t get what you were complaining about though; it’s hardly cold at all. It’s no tropical island, but it’s nice. The talking snowman was definitely as weird as you said, though._

Riku had been looking in every nook and cranny of those worlds, talking to the people Sora befriended, asking if they’d seen or heard anything. He couldn’t even count the number of downcast faces he’d seen since he started delivering the news of Sora’s disappearance, but the number was too high. Sora made friends so easily, it was both wonderful and terrible to see just how many people cared about him.

The princess in Corona—what was her name? Rapunzel? She was ready to head a full search of the woods surrounding her kingdom in hopes of finding a clue before Riku assured her that he’d already looked. Every tree, rock, bush, river, anything he came across. She promised to keep an eye out anyway.

Riku didn’t have the heart to tell her that Sora was more than just lost in the traditional sense.

_I used to be jealous of how easily you made friends, Sora. Now, I’m just glad. So many people along the way to help you. Looking out for you. Being there for you when I couldn’t. Honestly, I should thank them._

* * *

_So I’ve been thinking about this conversation I had with Lea a while back. And I kinda get what he was saying. I’ve relied on you to be the light that guides my way for so long, that being in the dark now is agonizing. These months without you have been like the sun is blocked out by a permanently overcast sky. Everything just feels... gray. I miss the sunshine more than anything._

* * *

He felt the silence stretched out between them, emotion clawing at his throat to rip and tear that silence apart, but inside, he knew nothing could be done. Riku was frustrated, angry. With himself, the research team, anyone who spared him a glance; it didn’t matter. Everyone could see the failure written across him plain as day. He’d saved Sora once, twice before; how was it so hard this time?

_I’m so sorry, Sora. Nine months I’ve failed you—_

He tore the page out of the notebook, crumpled it with a vicious intensity, and chucked it as far away from himself as he could get it. Sora wouldn’t want to see him talk like that.

A gentle hand patted his shoulder, making him jump. “Okay if I sit?”

Roxas—no, Ventus. It had been this long and he still had a hard time.

Thank heavens they dressed differently. “Sure.”

Ven walked around the bench to sit, looking over the mountains of the Land of Departure. They sat for a minute in silence; more silence made Riku uneasy. He didn’t know what to talk about, and his leg bounced with nervous energy. Even though he had agreed to Ven joining him, he really just wanted to be alone.

“It seems like you’ve been a little distracted lately,” Ven said tentatively, like he was afraid Riku wouldn’t react well.

“I guess,” Riku responded noncommittally, fingers picking at the remnants of the torn page still stuck in the binding.

“It’s about Sora, isn’t it?”

Riku sighed, shoulders slumping lower. “Usually.”

“Y’know, I spent a lot of time with Sora. Almost as much as you, just, not in the same capacity,” he said, tapping his chest over his heart.

Riku raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out where this conversation was going. He wasn’t quite in the mood for an ‘I miss him as much as you,’ pity party.

Ven continued, “What I’m saying is... I know he’ll appreciate the effort you’re putting into finding him. It’s the same thing he did for you, or so I hear.”

Riku turned his face away with the tiniest smile gracing his lips. “Yeah.

He followed his heart to find me, even though I didn’t want him to.” “I think those strong feelings always existed in his heart. Sora just didn’t quite realize what they meant until more recently. You two should really talk,” Ven advised with an easy smile.

Riku shrugged, flipping back through the journal to the previous entry. His eyes scanned over the words. Those entries were as close as he could get to that for now.

“I’ll think about it.”

* * *

 _Eleven months, Sora. Please, come home_.

* * *

_Sora,_

_I think that we finally have a clue. There’s something Cid dug up on the computer. We’re not totally sure what it means yet, but there’s hope._

_I met the Fairy Godmother today. She thinks those dreams I’ve been having will lead us to you. Lead me to you. Gods, I hope so._

_If you’re in that place I keep seeing, you’re somewhere we’ve never been before. Someplace I don’t know how to get to. But I will do everything in my power to figure it out. I’m bringing you home._

* * *

“It has been about the same length of time, hasn’t it?”

“Hm?” Riku looked up from staring at a blank journal page to find Naminé joining him at the table. She was back visiting Radiant Garden for a check up; so much was unknown about the replicas still that regular check-ins were deemed a _must_.

Riku was grateful for them, though. Naminé brought a sense of calm with her. She didn’t look at him with the same kind of concern, just shy of pity, that the others had started to recently. She understood.

“I mean that... I was putting Sora’s memory together for about a year, and it’s been about that long now, right?” she mused, pulling her sketchbook out of her bag and leaving both of them staring at blank pages.

Riku’s gaze turned to the journal’s finished letters, stacked in the previous pages. He nodded. “It has been a while.”

“Well then.” She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s about time for him to be found, right?” Riku gave her a quizzical look, but she continued, “Fairy Godmother said your dreams are the key right?”

Shoulders slumping lower in defeat, Riku sighed, “Yes, but I still don’t understand what she meant.” He had spent the last two weeks trying to solve this new riddle, with little success. The answer remained out of his reach, and with it, so did Sora.

She hummed sweetly, “They say a dream is a wish your heart makes... Maybe all you need is to think about Sora, being next to him? Your heart will guide you!”

Riku smiled. “It used to be that easy. But you know exactly what my heart would give to find him.”

“Oh, geez, let’s not do that again, okay?”

They shared a quick laugh. “No, I don’t think I’ll ever have to rely on that again.” Riku’s mind finally felt at ease joking about the first time he gave everything to protect Sora. Maybe it was the years, maybe it was Naminé’s understanding; he couldn’t place it. “I think I’ll need to learn something new this time. I bet it’s something between just me and Sora. Not the dreameater thing—something else. Whatever it is, I’ll figure it out.”

Naminé’s crayons made a gentle sound against the paper as she scribbled. Pausing, she looked back to Riku and said, “I might not have been around very long, but in all the stories that you and Sora have told me, all of the adventures that you’ve experienced, it seems to me there’s one power that always keeps two people together no matter how far a distance... Do you understand what I mean?”

Riku gave a shy smile. “I think I’m really starting to.”

_Hold on Sora, just a little bit longer._

* * *

Sora closed the journal silently. Breathing in the familiar salty air of his home from his usual spot on the bent paopu tree, he lifted the journal to hold it against his chest tightly.

After the last journey to all new and unknown places, the islands felt every bit the same as they had been, but with one simple, beautiful, _wonderful_ difference.

Riku loved him.

“You always were such a _sap_ , Riku.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or come yell at me on Twitter @witchyriku if you liked this fic ♡♡


End file.
